Multiple head stitcher and punch



A ril 14, 1942. R. G. HOFFERT 2,279,679

MULTIPLE HEAD S' IITCHER AND PUNCH Filed Oct. 7, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 14, 1942.7 w R. a. HOFFERT MULTIPLE HEAD STITCHER AND PUNCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 7, 1940 Patented Apr. 14, 1942 Roy G. Hofiert, Racine, Wis. I Application October 7, 1940, Serial No. 360,105; (I

2 Claims Wire stitching machines constructed substantially like the one disclosed in Patent No. 1,252,- 011, to Arthur H. Maynard, issued January 1, 1918, are now being manufactured and sold by a corporation with which I am associated. Many F of such wire stitching machines are now being used for closing small Cellophane bags containing candies, nuts, etc. These bags are filled with merchandise, in some instances with the open end I held by the merchandise in nearly round condition, and in other instances the sides of the open end are nearly flat. The bags now on the market which are filled to nearly round condition have their end closed by twisting the open end of the bag and applying a tie to the twisted portion, and those that are nearly flat sided are closed by folding one side of the bag on the other side and applying an adhesive.

In my co-pending application for patent, Se-

rial No. 334,561, allowed September 6, 1940, now Patent No. 2,220,333, I have disclosed a punch for forming an opening in the central portion of the end of the bag to provide a convenient means for hanging up a number of bags on a rod.

The object of my present invention is to provide means of simple, durable and inexpensive construction in the nature of an attachment to said wire stitching and punching machine, by the use of which an operator may readily, conveniently and easily guide the edges of the open end of a bag filled with merchandise, into proper position for receiving the stitching and punching operation, and further to provide means readily and quickly adjustable to adapt the device for use on bags filled to nearly rounded condition or to nearly fiat sided condition In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a wire stitching and punching machine having my improved bag-supporting and guiding device applied thereto, part of the bag-supporting platform being broken away to show the positions of the staple-clinching and punching devices;

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of the upper portion of a wire stitching machine;

Figure 3 shows a detail side elevation of a portion of the machine having my improved bag-supporting and guiding device applied thereto and showing a bag in position to receive the wire-stitching and punching operation;

Figure 4 shows a side elevation diagram illustrating the bag-supporting and guiding devices positioned for use with nearly round bags;

Figure 5 shows a similar view with the parts positioned for use with nearly flat bags;

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the bagsupporting platform detached; and

Figure '7 shows a side elevation, partly in section, of a wire-stitching and punching machine having my improved bag-supporting and guiding devices applied thereto.

Figure 8 shows a side elevation of the lower portion of awire stitching machine, and showing a portion of my improved bag supporting device, in position for use on flat work.

The wire-stitching machine'of itself forms no part of my present invention and is substantially likethe wire stitchin'g machine disclosed in said patent and comprises a frame [0, two wire-feeding devices ll, adjustable laterally at the front of the frame, and two' wire staple clinching devices l2 adjustable laterally ofthe-frame, one below each wire feeding device.- These are opera-ted to perform the usual wire stitching operation by means of a motor and connecting mechanism not shown.

Mounted at the front of the frame between the two wire clinching devices I2 is the punch 13 operated by a lever 14a, to be moved in unison with the wire clinching operation by mechanism not shown; 7 i I The punch plate [4 is detachably fixed to the frame [0 and has a punch-receiving opening 15 and a guide arm. 16 having its forward lower surface at I! inclined rearwardly and downwardly toward the punch l2. This guide arm I6 projects forwardly from the machine frame beyond the wire-stitching andpunching devices.

The bag-supporting and guiding device comprises a flat platform i8, preferably having its outer end rounded as at l9. At each side of the platform is an arm 20 extended rearwardly with its top edge substantially in line with the top of the platform. These arms 20 are adjustably pivoted to the frame ID by bolts 2| which are preferably tightened to the extent that they will hold the platform in any position in which it may be placed when used in the ordinary bag-supporting manner, but which may be moved by the operator to different positions whereby it may be quickly and easily adjusted for use with various sizes and shapes of bags. may also be loosened or firmly tightened in the ordinary way. It is important that the rear edge of the platform stands spaced apart from the front of the wire stitching and punching devices and that the arms 20 be pivotally supported at n points spaced rearwardly from the wire stitching and punching devices. By this means, and when the platform I8 is in horizontal position its The bolts, of course,

,devices.

top surface will be in line with the wire clinching device, thereby adapting it for stitching substantially flat articles, and when the platform is tilted downwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, its top surface will be substantially below a line parallel with the platform and extended through the top of the clinching device.

The necessity for this construction is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4 there is illustrated a bag 22 filled to the extent of extending the bag to a nearly round condition with the sides of the bag at the open end pressed together as at 23. In order that these edges 23 may enter between the punching and wire stitching devices, it is necessary that the body of the bag .be supported a substantial distance below .the .wire stitching and punching devices so that when thus supported these folded ends will enter the wire stitching and punching devices.

When, however, the bags are in nearly flat condition, as illustrated at 24 in Fig. 5, the body of the platform must be nearly in line with the entrance between the :wire clinching and punchwith the wire clinching and punching devices when the platform is fully elevated.

In operating vupon bags of the various classes herein described it is necessary or desirable to at times-apply the wire staples close to the outer edges of the bag, or somewhat further spaced apart therefrom. For this purpose I have provided the gauge plates 25, each havinga slot 26 through which the set-screws 21 are extended into the frame of the adjacent wire-feeding device I I. This plate has a gauge arm 28 extending downwardly to position close to the part of the frame 1,0 in the rear-.ofthe wire-clinching and punching These gauge plates are readily adjustable and removable.

A supporting platform 29 is moved on the frame in the rear of the wire stitching and punching devices in line with the top surfaces thereof.

The wire stitching machine to which my bagsupporting-and guiding devices are applied is customarily used for stitching along the transverse centers of long sheets of ,paper. When thus used, .theguides 25 and the punch plates 14 are removed and the platform 18 fixed in position flush with the platform 29 and the tops of the wire clinching devices.

When bags are to be stitched and punched, the punch plates and gauges are placed in position. If a number of nearly round bags with short projecting sides at the open end are to be serviced, the platform I8 is adjusted to about the position shown in Fig. 4, and the gauges are moved close to the wire-clinching device, and when nearly fiat bags are being stitched, the platform is moved to about the position shown in Fig. 5 and the gauges are moved rearwardly. Whether the bags are nearly round or nearly flat, the sides of the open end are pressed against the guide arm I5 and are thereby guided without any attention by the operator to proper position between the wire stitching and punching devices.

A large number of these bag-supporting and guiding devices are now in commercial use, and

,I have demonstrated that by their use a very marked saving in time and labor is effected as compared with the methods now in general use for such purposes. In addition thereto, when servicing a large number of bags having similar characteristics the staples and punch openings are all uniformly spaced the same distance from the edges of the bag end and the device may be quickly and easily adjusted for servicing bags having widely different characteristics, by simply tilting the platform [8 to the desired angle and the guide I 5 will, under all such adjusted positions, cooperate with the platform to'guide the .edgesof the bags to proper position.

posite from the receiving side, said pivotal means comprising bolts extended through the arms and seated in the machine for adjustably fixing the platform at various angles.

2. The combination with a wire stitching and clinching machine, of a platform ,to receive and support articles to be stitched, platform support, ing arms projected beyond one end of the platformand pivoted tothe said machine below the wireclinching device and at the side thereof opposite from the receiving side, and means for adjustably fixing .the platform atlvarious angles.

ROY G. HOFFERT. 

